To Sleep Alone
by Alien She
Summary: Sakura sees Sasuke after 3 years.  "Do you know as well what it is to sleep alone? Think, then, how she feels, wakeful trough the long, long nights by herself upon this shore" -The Tale of Genji.


Disclamer: Sadly, I don't own Naruto, but it's okay.

* * *

Sakura stared up at the tree as the blowing wind took a few cherry blossoms with it. She could see the sun was setting and figured she should head back to the village but her body just wouldn't move. She'd laid for hours in the same spot just thinking. She thought about many things but her mind always went back to a certain topic. A certain number. 3.

Its been 3 years.

Today marks the 3rd anniversary since Sasuke's departure.

Since he betrayed his village, his friends, Naruto..

Since he betrayed her.

She wasn't mad at him-Sakura shook her head-No, she was mad at him, but she sort of understands why he left and she knows Kakashi and Naruto do too, it's just that stupid moronic idiot didn't even try to consider the other choices! God knows he had other ones other than following Orochimaru. Lot's of other choices.

Stupid fool.

Sakura closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

God she missed him. Every minute of every hour of every day. Her skin yearned to touch him just one more time, she wanted to smell his lovely scent that to this day she couldn't find anything that even came close to his. Lord how she ached to see his eyes, his face once again, and she'll give anything, her heart, her soul, just to see him smirk like he used to when he was with Team 7.

Another deep breath. Inhale. Exhale…

To hear him say her name with his husky, velvet, I-am-a-badass-and-I-know-it voice.

She still remembered how his voice sounded, how chills ran all over her body when he said her name at Orochimaru's hideout.

"Sakura."

She smiled. Yeah, just like that.

Woah, wait. Sakura froze. _Crap_. Very slowly Sakura opened her eyes and turned her head to the direction her name came from. She gasped.

Sasuke? What the hell?

Her body reacted. Well, it tried. _Damn it_, she couldn't move. _C'mon c'mon get into defensive position Sakura. MOVE! _Her body didn't respond, it just layed there ready for an attack that she couldn't, wouldn't stop. She was sure he knew this.

A hint of a smirk was on Sasuke's lips.

Oh wow. Her heart went into overdrive. Fine, if her body wouldn't move might as well talk to him, make him think he doesn't scare her, or make her heart act all weird. Now to make sure her voice wouldn't shake….

"Hiya Sasuke?"

_Hiya, HIYA? __Oh jeez, my last word before I die might be 'Hiya.' _Did his smirk just get a wee bit bigger. Oh hell no.

"What the hell do you want **Sasuke**?" Good, hatred in her voice, only that it would have been so much better if she was standing up!

"Hn." Some things never change.

For some reason this pissed off Sakura. How dare Sasuke just show up all of a sudden, uninvited, make her heart do weird things and cause her an unmeasurable amount of pain adding to the already unmeasurable pain she has. She should just crush him with her strenght, show him how strong she'd gotten. Pound all the pain he caused her. Kami why in the hell-

-"are you here!"

Was she saying this out loud? Oh, she's standing up, and pointing a kunai at him. Victory, CHA!

She looked into Sasukes eyes, looking for any type of reaction. The Ninja was stone. He wouldn't give anything away. All right, Sakura figured that as long as he was here she might as well ask him the question she always wanted an answer to. This question has kept her up at night, wondering if maybe she would have just…..

"Sasuke, are you gay?"

Oh there it is, a reaction! Another victory! In the back of her mind Sakura figured she should have called for backup, alert the village, try to fight him, something but she just didn't. Odd.

Shock had crossed Sasuke's face only for a second, but she saw it. Oh my, lets see, what to say, what to say..

"You know you broke my heart, right?" Hm, that wasn't exactly what she was going for… "Like, you completely **shattered **it. A million little pieces. I wanted to hate you." Was that sadness I just saw? Probably not. "It was a mess, I was a mess. Stupid me. It's okay though, because of those million little pieces I was able to become a true ninja" What the hell? Amusement? She glared at him.

"I became stronger than ever. I can probably kick your ass." Well not really, but let him believe it, not that he would. But still. "Naruto also helped. He helped pick up those pieces and start putting them back together, but then he left and I was alone. I kept those pieces in place though, I promised him I would keep putting pieces together, that I wouldn't give up. It was hard though, there were days when I just wanted to scream and let the pieces fall, but surprisingly Kakashi helped keep them together, too. Not only Kakashi, but Lady Tsunade helped and Shizune and the rest Konoha 11. Everyone."

She sighed again. Eyeing Sasuke she realized he wasn't all stone, and she could see _some _emotion, but she couldn't tell what. Smiling, she figured what she was going to say next will cause a big reaction. Big for him that is. "But I gotta say, the one person that _really_ helped me, that motivated me to become stronger, smarter and one of the top Medic Ninja's in the country-" Sakura couldn't help it, she was proud of herself. "-and keep sticking those pieces together was, not Kakashi or Lady Tsunade, not even Naruto, though he is a big reason, but not the main reason. No, the main reason is you, Sasuke. You're the reason why I'm stronger, the reason why I was able to put back those million little pieces that you yourself shattered. It's all because of you. Because I Love You."

And there it was, shock. His face gave everything away and he couldn't hide it. But then again her epiphany was pretty shocking. Shocked her , but not so much. Now if he would only say something. Sasuke looked at her and finally spoke, "_Do you know as well what it is to sleep alone? Think, then, how she feels, wakeful trough the long, long nights by herself upon this shore."_ *

Woah, that's a lot. It's was a poem. How romantic, it sounds familiar too. But the poem talks about his pain, _do you know as well what it is to sleep alone?_ Does he know my pain? Understand what I've been going trough?

"Sasuke?" She needs to know, "Sasuke, Please, do you love me?"

"Sakura"

Oh god. Is it true?, could he really love her? Is it really possible? Never in her wildest

dreams did she think…

"Sakura"

"Sasuke!" She needed to touch him, to breathe in his scent and fill her lungs with it.

"Sakura"

Just a few more steps, his voice was filling her whole mind…..Sasuke!

"SAKURAAAAAAA!"

Oh.

A dream.

"Sakura."

"SAKURA"

Naruto. So loud.

And, Kakashi?

"I think she's waking up. Naruto stop shaking her."

Wait, is there someone else?

Sakura opened her eyes to see blue and yellow. Bright, bright, loud blue and yellow.

"Ugh, Naruto. What the..? What are you doing here? Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi smiled, "Well, Naruto invited us out to Ichiraku's but we couldn't find you in the village and then we bumped into Hinata-"

"-we asked her if she knew where you were but she said you've been gone for a few hours and then I got super worried cause I couldn't find you anywhere and Hinata couldn't see you in the village so then Kakashi-sensei and I came over here and with the help of Hinata we found you! Now we can all have Ramen!" finished Naruto.

Sakura looked behind Naruto and found Hinata looking to her right and suddenly turned toward her, blushing. "A-Are you all right, Sakura?"

So, it really was just a dream. Well, that really, really sucked. She could feel the tears in her eyes and faked a yawn so Naruto wouldn't notice. She couldn't fool Kakashi though.

"We should get going before it gets too dark, or we wont have any ramen." Kakashi said looking off to the distance.

Naruto gasped at the thought of no ramen. The horror.

Sakura couldn't help but laugh, "All right. Sorry about the worry. I didn't mean too, I just fell asleep. For your trouble I'll pay for the ramen."

"ALLRIGHT! FREE FOOD!" shouted Naruto.

"ONLY ONE BOWL NARUTO! THAT'S ALL IM PAYING GOT IT!" She'll be broke if she pays for everything he eats. "Lets go Hinata, you too. You are the one who found me.

Hurry Kakashi-sensei." Locking arms with Hinata on one side and Kakashi, who was surprised by this gesture, on her other Sakura headed towards the Village.

"T-Thank You Sakura, but you don't have to pay."

"Of course she has to pay Hinata! You did find her. Oh I cant wait, what should I get first? Chicken? Nah. Shrimp? Beef? Hmm, Maybe Salt Ramen…"Naruto locked arms with Hinata making the shy girl blush tomato red.

While listening to Naruto decide on what to order first, Sakura thought about her dream.

Tough it hurt knowing it was only a dream, she realized that what she said was true. Sasuke was really the main reason why she became a stronger person, a stronger ninja. With Naruto, Kakashi-sensei, Hinata and the rest of her friends by her side, they will one day be able to kick Sasuke's ass and bring him back. Then she and Sasuke will have beautiful babies together. Sakura laughed at the last thought. Seeing the others eyeing her, she just shook her head and asked, "Hinata, what are you going to get?"

"Oh well, I-I don't know. What do you think?"

"You should get the salt ramen Hinata, or the …" Sakura blocked the rest of Naruro's answer.

"...kura." Kakashi's voice. "Sakura." She turned to him. "Yes sensei?" Kakashi held up a book. "You forgot your book." Sakura saw her **Tale of Genji** in his hand. _So that's were the poem came from_, she thought.

Smiling Sakura made a promise. _Sasuke just you wait. We'll see each other again_.

* * *

The trees blurred past him, black shadows in the night. He didn't mind, he wouldn't hurt himself. He escaped in time, he should have gone sooner maybe then the Hyuga girl wouldn't had notice him. He didn't think she would tell anyone, not unless Kakashi says something, which he won't. At least Naruto didn't see him, what a pain that would have been.

Darn, he should had taken another path, but he didnt have the time. Then he saw her, Sakura looked so peaceful sleeping. He was only there for a while, watching her dream. Who knew she was a talker? She said his name a couple of times. Not being able to resist-damn that pink headed ninja of his-he moved next to her to listen better. What he caught was interesting.

Even after breaking her heart, knocking her out, and leaving her in a bench, somehow she still loved him.

And now he was the reason she was stronger. His emotion getting the better of him, growled a the thought. Stupid girl, she was weak and always will be. But what pissed him off the most was what he said next, "_Do you know as well what it is to sleep alone? Think, then, how she feels, wakeful trough the long, long nights by herself upon this shore." _Stupid pink headed ninja. Making him say weird things. Stupid **Genji **book reminding him of the stupid poem.

As soon as he said it he caught the sense of the others chakra and left, but not soon enough. Hinata and Kakashi sensed him, but that didn't matter. As long as Naruto and Sakura didn't realize he was there he couldn't care less. He was pretty sure though that he would see those two again. He could bet on it.

* * *

AN::Whoo. Tired.

*So this idea came from the poem "_Do you know as well what it is to sleep alone? Think, then, how she feels, wakeful trough the long, long nights by herself upon this shore" _which is from **The Tale of Genji **page 265. It's a really good book written by Lady Murasaki and it's considered the world's first novel. Fun stuff. I planned the story differently, but as I was writing it out it just changed.

Anyways, I am not really satisfied with the story, I always feel I won't do the world of Naruto justice, that and I think maybe I rushed it. Did it confuse some of you? But I decided to write it so I can get it out of my head! This is my first Naruto Fanfic.

As you can tell I am a Sakura&&Sasuke fan. Naruto&&Sakura is just weird for me.

I said **for me **so no hate letters saying "oh yeah, well screw you." I like Hinata for Naruto. I mean the girl has loved him since like EVER. She never hated the guy unlike some other people…_:sigh_: but Sasuke has gone **crazy**. I cant wait for those two to confront each other. I really hope they don't die..! I have a few theories on what is going to happen. Love it!

If you have a few theories, care to share? I would love to know yours!

Oh and as to why Sasuke was there in the first place, well Sakura was actually a few miles away but she could still make out the city. Sasuke passed by, he needed a few materials and he went to a Uchiha hideout/secret room in that area which had what he needed. He happened to see her. He did say her name, which is what she heard the first time. She didn't say the gay thing out loud. He probably would had killed her, but he did hear parts of her 'epiphany' and was able to put it together. This is before he joins Madara, like a little after Team Hebi is born.

**And please Review. Be Honest! Even if its awful. I can take it, I think.**


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